Recca tried to relax himself with a hot bath. The keyword was tried. He could not stop his hand from shivering. It was obviously not from the cold but the tension he was feeling. His friends would be arriving very soon. He thought. The fear was there. What would his friends do when they see the very man who not long ago happily volunteered to eliminate him of his existence and that happened more than four centuries ago? Recca absently placed the palm of his hand on his scarred cheek. He remembered. He did not know that it was his brother but the pain of the rusted blade that was suppose to be aimed at his heart surfaces in his dreams. He relaxed his head on the edge of the tub.
Those eyes…
He had nightmares with his brother's eye's starring coldly at him. It was far worst that the monsters his adoptive father use to scare him with. Now his whole body was shaking. Despite the hot bath he wrapped his arms around himself and shut his eyes. He took deep breaths to calm himself. He imagined a child-like Kurei staring at him but this time it was not the usual eyes that could kill. It was sad, hurt, and very lonely. Recca began to think. If he was not born would his brother's eyes been different? He has never seen Kurei's eyes shine like his friends did. Even Tokiya's eyes started to melt, slowly finding his happiness. For the first time in his life Recca felt a pang of guilt by his existence. If he did not exist then his brother could have had a life that he most definitely deserves and a true smile would adorn his face. Recca grabbed the pendant hanging off his neck. He never removed it ever since his brother placed it on his neck. He stared at the pendant's intricate design.
I do not like his first's wife's arrogance…
Reina is a threat to us. She is planning to take over our clan and is using her son as her instrument…
Look at his cold and indifferent face no doubt he will turn out like his wretched mother…
The dark flame! A Demon's spawn…
Kurei is the damned child he is the one that should be killed!...
Recca did not notice the water's temperature drop. All he could feel was the burning sensation the marked names on both of his arms made and his struggle for breath. His vision was getting hazy.
"Recca-kun." a soft knock echoed inside the bath. "You've been there an awful long time are you alright?" Yoshino's voiced brought Recca out from his thoughts.
"Yes. I'm almost finished. I'm sorry for making you worry." His voice was a little hoarse but the woman did not seem to bother with the change. Her silhouette from the thin paper walls nodded in acceptance. He waited for the figure to disappear completely before releasing a sigh. What happened, he thought. He noticed how his hand was still on the chain necklace that were minutes ago tightening his neck.
………………………..
"What are you doing?" the shadow lady approached the giggling store manager. "I'm preparing Recca-chan's clothes." Kagero transferred her attention to the fabrics that innocently lay on the bed. Her eyes bulged. "A-ano… Yoshino-san aren't those…" she stuttered and could not finish her sentence.
"I have been dreaming of this day ever since I found out that his waistline is slimmer then our female endorser." She crackled. "Demo, Yoshino-san that dressed is designed not to show the curves of the body so it would be of no use." She tried to explain to the other woman. "Oh come now, everyone knows the slimmer body shows the flow of this dress in a more exquisite way." She laughed clearly showing her playful side.
"What are you ladies talking about?" The two women stared at the freshly bathed teen wearing a white shirt and drawstring pants. "Speaking of…" Yoshino smiled sweetly at the teen, too sweetly in fact. "Recca-kun, you're finally finished. Come, come dear." She gestured the young male towards her. "You have to get ready."
Recca did not like how the woman looked. He imagined an evil witch that is all too willing to put a curse on him but Yoshino was not like that. What happened to the sweet and carrying manager? Is she menopause? He thought. But of course he could not say that out loud. He stared dumbfounded at the woman. And the woman stared right back. What's with that look? It was like…Then it suddenly hit him. Yoshino had the same glint in her eyes when she met Kurei for the first time when he needed some clothes.
Oh no…
He took a step back as the store manager took a side step showing the clothes laid out on the bed.
Shit…
"Saa, Recca-kun…" Recca turned to his mother, asking silently for help. She just looked at him with a sorry look on her face. Is this because she knew not to interfere with the inevitable?
"Now Recca-kun it's no use trying to stall." How did she read his mind?
"Now Yoshino-san, I'm sure we can come up with a better deal." The woman just grinned as she saw her little prey back up on the wall.
"No, please…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooo…"
Outside the three males stiffened as the hair at the back of their necks stood from the horrifying scream.
"Do we even want to know what that is?" the senior Hanabishi stated. The other two quickly shook their head.
…………………..
"Argh. Why is their house so secluded?" The Fuujin user complained. "And why the hell do we have to wear kimonos?"
"Kagero-san said we should visit village temple at around ten in the evening for the bells and I heard that the festival there is so Cool…Woah." Yanagi almost lost her footing in her excitement if it wasn't for the ensui user. "Watch your footing I never worn one but I don't think that's the easiest dress to skip in." (A/N: you tell me.) Tokiya held on to the girl's waist a little longer than necessary which did not go unnoticed by the ring pierced man. Yanagi gently pried his hands of her before he changed the subject. "Fuuko you look nice in that dress, Dark purple is a nice color on you. Domon? Aren't you changing?"
"I will be much easier for me if I change in Kagero-san's house."
"Is this the passage way?" The youngest of them interrupted. "Yes we should go in." the rest nodded in agreement.
……………………...
The newly arrived guest could not help the sudden intake of breath. The house was different the last time they had been here. It was covered with New Year's ornaments. A shimenawa rope greeted the entrance door under it was the shadow lady herself in a black kimono with floral patterns holding a round paper fan. But that was not the reason why everyone gaped. Behind her was a male standing beside the rice paper door of the house entrance.
It was not hard to guess who this person was despite the lack of make-up and crimson leather that was replaced with the abundance of dark patterned cloths. His resemblance to its younger sibling will always be a dead give away even without the scar that flawed his face. He just stood there. His expression as always was withdrawn but his eyes were different it was not cold but empty and waiting for their reaction though he already expected what their motion would be.
"You bastard!" as expected the more emotional one will always act first. Fuuko snatched three ice picks from her kimono (where does she keep them) and positioned them in-between her fingers. "What the hell are you doing here you son of a bitch!" She launched the three picks at him. The other did not move a step away from his position instead grabbed the weapons projected towards him by their handles. Tokiya noticed that the man who he knew to be quite proud never even smirked despite his success in dodging the noisy brash female's attack. But what he did not notice was that the man already planted the weapons back, half a foot away the woman's feet which immediately send the large man charge his way towards the pale flame caster who was stepping out of the house.
Again the raven haired man did nothing but dodged the barbaric attacks that would no doubt crush any ordinary person. Domon was frustrated. He could not land a single blow on the scarred male. What the hell was he doing here? Was this party a trap? How long had he been here? Now that the long haired teen thought about it Recca started acting strange for the past months. Sure he did not force the guy to spill but he knew that he was acting troubled even without asking.
Which brings back to the current situation…
"Fucking Bastard." Domon lunged a random maneuver towards his opponent.
Domon you idiot…
"Ugh…" Finally, a sound from the silent and 'unwelcome guest'. Tokiya felt Yanagi's hold on his arm, which he did not notice before it tightened. The man did not evade the larger man' attack instead he took it right on his face. It was unusual for this man to make this unnecessary mistake even Domon was surprised. The silent male took a glance back. Curious Tokiya took a glance only to see the innocently prepared dishes behind him.
He did not speak he still stood silently. This time Domon and Fuuko tried to attack at the same time and with Kurei giving no indication on avoiding the blows it was a sure hit if it not for the barrier that seemed to separate them.
"Madoka?" the ice user murmured. Recca's flame dragon did nothing but shield the dark flame caster.
"Stop." A familiar voice shouted. They all turned towards the house only to see an unfamiliar woman and not the voice they were expecting. Wait…who was the ebony haired person behind him. Recca?
"Come now Recca-chan why are so embarrassed especially when you were burning with zeal in defending your brother a while ago." The woman laughed.
"Stop it Yoshino-san." He tried to pry the woman's hand that insisted his movement towards the group.
Kurei could not hold his gasp when he saw the figure that was shyly hiding away from their view. He did not know what possessed Yoshino to make him wear it but he is sure as hell not complaining. He could not stop the intense heat forming on his cheeks.
Recca was wearing a simple light beige checked kimono bordered with circles. The garment under it was orange and it was held by a blacked striped obi. The left front part of his hair was pinned by two blue clips.
"Recca! Kurei turned you into a girl?" Domon exclaimed. The raven haired boy's face turned crimson you would think he will explode any minute. "HE did not you idiot. This woman..." He pointed at the lady with an innocent look. "…tried to make a living doll out of me."
"I'd say she'd finally put some fashion sense in you." Mikagami suddenly replied. "Shut Up, Ice boy."
"Well now that everyone's head is a little cooled off shall we head to the tables for some soba and talk like civilized people." Kagero suggested. Kaoru and Recca's father made their appearance but everyone else was reluctant to move. Recca slowly made his way towards his brother.
"Let's go niisan." Fuuko and the other newly arrived guess thought that nothing could shock them after the "Kurei is here" scene but it seemed that they were wrong yet again. It was a wonder none of them had a heart attack yet.
He grabbed his older brother's sleeve and pulled him inside but not without checking out his brother's clothes. "You looked distinguished" he teased the older one in a hushed voice.
Kurei pulled Recca towards him so that his lips were near Recca's ear. "You however look beautiful." Recca stiffened and Kurei almost bit his tongue with his unexpected retort. He wanted to taunt his brother back but his voice came out wrong even in his own ears.
His brother's husky voice traveled through Recca's spine and made him shiver. He turned bright red again and slowly faced his brother only to see a mocking smirk directed at him. He lightly punched the other flame caster's arm. "That's not even funny." He pouted but still pulled his brother inside dismissing the slight hurting of his chest. Everyone soon followed the two.
As everyone sat at the table Kagero began pouring the tea and serving the soba. Everyone was waiting for someone to speak first. Tokiya stared at the fidgeting kimono wearing boy who had his gaze stolen by the steaming soba. He sighed at the absurdity of the situation. "We'll first things first what are you doing here?" He was the one to break the silence as he was the only one who currently built up the guts to ask the seemingly stoic male.
"I was invited for the holidays." was the sarcastic reply.
"Why you…!" Yanagi pulled Fuuko's sleeve to calm her down. Recca gave his brother a disapproving look which the other ignored as he continued to sip his tea.
"Listen you jerk. Our friend didn't exactly walk in paradise for the past weeks and I know you got something to do with it." She knew he hit a nerve but she did not think he would see a look of regret on the dark male's eyes though it quickly disappeared. "Fuuko it's ok…" Recca replied.
"No it was not okay Recca." she snapped.
"Recca-kun." Yanagi spoke. "It really isn't fair for us you know. We were all worried about you. I just wished you trusted us a little more." Recca's eyes suddenly hardened. "So you can attempt to beat him to a pulp like you did moments before!" he yelled. Even Kurei was a bit taken back. "You want to know what happened!" he stared everyone down. "My brother, yeah that's right why are you all looking at me surprised! I found him on the street injured and treated him. I helped my own flesh and blood. Is that a crime? Why does he get blamed for everything? He just stood there awaiting your judgment and you didn't even notice that he did not make any moves to attack. I was the one who kept him from you. I was the reason that caused so much trouble. I was not even supposed to be born. I was the one that should be killed." Recca started to pull his hair that caused pain in his scalp when a hand grabbed his wrist and calmly said. "That is enough Recca." the younger one quickly relaxed with his brother's soothing tone.
"I apologize for my sarcasm. In truth I have no reason to offer why I'm here but I have so many reasons why I'm still here and some of them I would rather not discuss. Your trust is not my concern I already have both of my younger brothers'." He looked at Kaoru and Recca's face smiling at him as the others stared at him silently.
………………
Around ten the group went to the temple square where the festival was. They had planned to listen to the one hundred eight rings of the temple bells at midnight in the temple itself and watch the fireworks display. Recca was devastated to find out that Kurei had never been to a Japanese new year's festival before and insisted on bringing his brother to every booth. Ganko and Kaoru wanted to cause havoc inside the haunted house booth but they didn't say that. Yoshino, Kagero and Hanabishi-san decided to check the boutiques while Domon and Fuuko engaged in a friendly completion in the festival games. They all promise to meet at a certain place for the fireworks display after the bells.
"Mikagami-san." Yanagi and Tokiya were left walking along the booths alone. The others went their separate ways to check out the other booths. "Yes." He answered.
"Do you think we can trust Kurei?"
The ensui user gave a long paused then answered. "I don't think it is about weather we trust him or not anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"Look at them." He pointed the two raven haired males. Kurei made a disgusted face as Recca tried to shove pink cotton candy on his face. "Right now those two can't be separated even if you try placing a ten meter thick wall between them they'll just break it through."
"I don't understand. How do you know if Kurei is not here to hurt him?"
"I don't." he honestly replied. This did not ease the young healer's mind. "Yanagi I think this time you have to let him go. If you haven't notice he's slowly breaking your bonds. He's not your knight and shinning armor anymore."
"No." she cut off. "Recca had been there for me and I want to be there for him." She distanced herself from her companion and ran ahead.
But he already found someone there for him princess and someone is already here for you too.
"How cute you're taking your sister out." The old lady greeted the two young raven heads. Recca tried to hold his blush while Kurei just snickered. "Yeah but he's my little brother."
"Oh I'm sorry it's just that your kimono is just so lovely I automatically assumed…" the clerk tried to apologize.
"It's fine. I think our lady friend just got a little carried away this time." the woman gave a knowing smile. "Here." he handed them two paper windmills. "It's on the house."
"Thank you." They both bowed.
The brothers enjoyed the festival with the food, games, and souvenirs. They haven't even noticed that it was ten minutes to midnight until Yanagi spotted them and ask for their attention. "Kurei-san may I speak to Recca alone." Kurei gave a hard stare at the girl. He did not understand why but every time he saw this woman with Recca he felt something odd in his chest. He really wanted to say no but he found no reason not to so he reluctantly nodded not trusting his voice for the moment.
She pulled Recca towards the side of the temple. "What is it hime?" the lack of affection towards the title did not go unnoticed by the person. "Recca-kun I would like to apologize. I too dependent on you and yet I could not do anything when you needed someone the most so…." She went closer to the boy. "From now on I will try to be there for you when ever I possibly can." The bells began to chime. "They say when you and the other person stay with each other at exactly midnight they would be with each other for a very long time." she even leaned closer. "So Recca-kun please be with me this midnight and the others to come." She leaned forward and gave the male a kiss unaware of the two figures watching them. One was silently standing the other was hastily leaving.
"Yanagi-san!" Recca suddenly pushed the girl away from him. Yanagi waited for the rest but he only saw Recca turn away from her. She never liked Recca calling her other than hime. And the suffix added was too formal for her liking. "I'm not the one you should be proposing that with. Please don't pity me like a dept that needs to repaid."
"But it's not like that." She defended. "I really want to spend this night with you."
Recca's warm blue eyes suddenly turned cold. "Then allow me to tell you directly hime. You are not exactly the one I want to spend the New Years Eve with." The healer's eyes shone with unshed tears and Recca's demeanor began to soften. "But there is someone out there who does." With that he quickly ran away from his former hime.
Despite her shouts Recca ran towards the direction she guessed Kurei might be.
"Why are you crying hime?" Yanagi did not need to look to identify who that voice belonged to she turned around and hid her face on the warm chest.
…………………….
Kurei sighed as his cell phone was once again answered by the answering machine on the other end of the line. "Niisan." The familiar voice of Recca greeted the secluded area he was in. Recca paused in midstep when he saw his brother's detached expression which was the total opposite of the contented smile he had a while ago.
"Who were you talking too?" he tried to start.
"I was trying to call the chief. I wanted to at least greet them Akemashite Omedetou at midnight I guess they went to their temple festival as well." Then Recca realize that Kurei was about to spend the first seconds of the new year alone again. Without thinking he launched himself towards his brother hugging him tightly.
"I'm sorry Niisan. I left you alone again." He buried his nose on his brother's neck. Kurei did nothing but hug back. He was not aware till know the pain that he felt moments ago were of the sight of Recca leaving him. He did not want that to happen ever again. "It's alright he coed." He glanced at his cell phone and smiled. "There is still two minutes till midnight." He gently guided his brother to sit on the Shinto temple steps, the gong on its ninetieth chime. Kurei held his brother's hand tightly and Recca happily held back.
"Niisan. A friend told me that if you spend the midnight with another person then you will be together for a very long time." he laid his head on his brother's shoulder. "Last ten bells" the younger whispered."
Kurei gently grabbed Recca's hands and sweetly place a gentle kiss on each of his knuckles. "I hope so…" he answered. Amused of his brother's never ending blushes and sweet smiles; the kiss he witnessed with the girl momentarily forgotten.
"Akemashite Omedetou otouto."
"Akemashite Omedetou niisan."
…………………….
Hello you have reached the Takehiko's residence we are not home right now so please leave a message after the beep….
"Uncle it's me. Just wanted to greet you and Hahaue a happy new yea, I guess you are enjoying the festival as well so have a nice time. Take care all of you."----------
the sound of the long bee of the answering machine was the only thing that broke the silence that and a man silently closing the empty Takehiko households' door.
TBC…………..
Waaaaaaaaaaaah I finished. I'm an evil evil mushy person. WAAAAH. Good grief what is happening to me! Am I doing the right thing? O.O Sorry if I have no time to say thank you personally with each and everyone who reviewed I have a final exam in less than 3 hours so there o.O didn't even study yet and I wanted to graduate waaaaaaaaaaaaaah… why I did this first? I don't know…huhuhuhu I'm sorry if it's not good…but it's the longest I have written so far. Hehe.
If you want to see Recca in Kimono e-mail me or send me a message that you want to see I already send some to the others who left their e-mail so there hehe….bye have a test
You want teaser ok me give you one.
Kurei sat on the farthest part of the cart alone he did not give ay invitation for anyone to join him but Recca decided to sit by him.
"You're in deep thought. What's on your mind?"
"Recca I want to tell you what happened before the day you found me."
I kindly ask for your reviews it does help me write. Thank you very much